Online Pursuits
by Pivot
Summary: RiD: T-AI doesn't need to take time out to have her own fun.


_Disclaimer: I don't own anything of RiD._

_Side note: for the amount of power T-AI seems to have in the cartoon, it's funny that no-one ever mentioned how terrifying that could be. She can access everything from shipboard electronics to Optimus Prime's trailer._

_Nobody annoy T-AI._

* * *

**Online Pursuits**

Every Autobot had an assigned patrol route.

T-AI had the information highway.

She had the ability to tap into most of the electronics on the planet (which, if she thought about it, could be pretty unnerving for other people). Most of the time, she just ran sweeps checking for odd activity (or lack of it – if a power station's security system powered down, she wanted to know). Odd patterns, which the internet was full of, and illegal ones. Mostly, she looked for Predacons.

Sometimes she found humans.

The computer worm showed up on her scans about a second after she started checking the area. She wasn't doing anything urgent. T-AI left the scans running, and went after it.

She extended her remote functions outwards, taking control of the network areas around it. Even while she identified it, the little worm was starting to spread. Human viruses were slow, most of the time – the trick was catching them early, before it became too difficult to track down all the sites of infection.

She could see all of its edges now. And T-AI was very fast.

In a nanosecond she had it surrounded, and started inward, freezing and releasing connections momentarily as her noose rippled through them. Another moment, and she ran up against the infection itself. With her holding the connections closed, it was good and trapped, but there was no reason to let it carry on infecting files in the infection zone. She reached into the infected servers and computers and took control of those, then put them on hold, so to speak. If they couldn't do anything, they couldn't keep hurting themselves.

The worm pinned under her grip, T-AI examined it for a moment, without fear. It _was_ a human creation, and she'd never met one of those which posed a threat. Well, not to her.

But then, she thought, selectively deleting a few sections of code, that wasn't the point. It was a threat to human computers, and she didn't like that. And left to roam unchecked, you never knew what they might turn into one day…

A second's work of a subroutine traced the worm's source. The idea of retribution - gutting their files or blocking their network access, maybe - flickered through her mind. T-AI brushed it aside and made a note to consult Optimus and Prowl regarding correct protocol.

She edited the worm some more, removing its replication capability and effectively paralysing it. Then she began bundling it up, dragging and wiping it out of the system, cleaning and replacing damaged files as she went. What remained of it at last, she bundled in a carefully contained package all the way to a terminal in Metro City.

The entire hunt had taken less than thirteen seconds and covered eight thousand miles.

_How's that for a high-speed chase?_ she thought in satisfaction.

Back in Spychanger headquarters, the disk was ejected with a beep. T-AI turned some of her attention to it, still going over her performance with pleasure within the computer.

"Crosswise," she said aloud, "would you mind getting that for me?"

The Spychanger's science officer looked up from his work. "Another trophy?" He got up and stretched, then strolled over to pull out the disk. "Do you spend any of your time hunting _Predacons_?"

T-AI materialised her holographic image in front of him. "As a matter of fact, I never stop," she informed him primly. "Identifying computer viruses doesn't detract from my regular sweeps-"

"Sure it does. But just a little, so I won't hold it against you." Crosswise winked at the AI's avatar and went over to a cabinet.

She frowned at his back and continued, "Besides, the Predacons have infiltrated computer systems hundred of times before. Investigating any suspicious activity is the best way of finding them when they try it again."

"Right," he agreed, still amused. The blue Autobot took out a case and slipped the disk into it alongside the others, then put it back, closed the door and stood up. "Trophy number three million and four. You're gonna need another new case for them soon. Nice work, T-AI."

She tilted her projected head with a smile. "Thank you, Crosswise, but it's really too easy. The malware on this planet is no match for a real artificial intelligence."

Crosswise shook a finger at her, heading back to his project. "Never, ever, _ever_ say that where viruses are concerned."

T-AI laughed and switched off the hologram. There were a couple of strange news reports in Canada and New Zealand, and she needed to analyse those.

Maybe later she would go hunting again.


End file.
